The present invention relates to exercise devices, and particularly to a bicycle-type exercise device including provisions for changing the amount of resistance to operation of the device during the course of use, and which includes provision for displaying the amount of resistance and the amount of exercise performed.
In performing exercise in order to improve body fitness, and particularly in order to improve aerobic conditioning of the body, it is desirable to exercise as many major muscle groups of the body as possible simultaneously. Exercise devices including pedals connected to drive loads such as flywheels equipped with brakes provide a significant amount of leg and lower body trunk exercise. The inclusion of hand cranks adds to the amount of aerobic conditioning which can be achieved using such exercise devices. Some exercise devices previously available have included both pedal cranks and hand cranks, as shown in Samuelson, U.S. Pat. No. 1,386,206, Odom, U.S. Pat. No. 3,216,722, Zent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,235, Proprotnik, U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,376, and Figueroa U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,863. Nies U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,572,699 and 3,745,990 disclose such a device including a force-sensing transducer associated with each crank to evaluate the effort used to drive the apparatus.
It is desirable during exercise to be able to adjust the amount of resistance provided by the exercise machine to provide an optimum amount of resistance to efficiently exercise the user's muscles.
Previously, it has been necessary to use the hands to adjust the amount of resistance provided by a bicycle-type exercise device This has been accomplished by manually adjusting a brake mechanism, in many such exercise machines However, if an exercise machine requires use of both hands and feet for its operation, adjusting such a mechanism manually would interrupt the application of force by the hands, or at least by one hand.
Not only is it desirable to be able to exercise the entire body simultaneously, but it is also useful to know the amount of force being developed and the speed at which exercise is being performed, at least on an arbitrary relative scale, so that it is possible for the person using the device to repeat a workout schedule of various times at various levels of effort on, for example, a daily basis. Such knowledge is also helpful to evaluate progress toward better fitness and endurance. It is therefore desirable to have a way to display selectively indications of data such as the amount of exercise performed, the speed at which an exercise device is operated, and the amount of resistance to operation which is presented by the exercise apparatus.
Gause et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,480, discloses an ergometer including a display panel which includes appropriate meters to enable the operator to observe his performance and control the amount of work he must do in exercising. The Gause device does not provide, however, for the user to adjust the effort required to operate the machine by hand during the time when it is being operated by hand
Flavell, U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,467, discloses an exercise apparatus which is responsive to the user's performance to vary the amount of braking, or power, provided by the apparatus during performance of exercise at a predetermined speed in accordance with a program which must be set into the apparatus in advance. However, there is no provision for the user to change selectively the amount of resistance provided while the exercise apparatus is being operated.
Pfleiderer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,239, discloses a pedal-operated crank device with a performance display panel. An electric load-adjusting device maintains the load presented to the user at a previously determined value during exercising.
Dutsch, U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,928, is related to the same exercise device disclosed by Pfleiderer et al., and discloses control of the load presented by the exercise device in response to the heart rate of the user.
Shimano, U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,008, discloses a measuring device including a microprocessor, for determining the amount of exercise achieved during operation of a bicycle and for providing information to the bicycle rider so that he can pace his exercising.
Jones, international patent application publication No. WO 82/02668, discloses an exercise apparatus in which the user's performance is measured by a computer and displayed automatically.
None of the prior art of which the applicant is aware, however, provides for exercising both arms and legs simultaneously at controllably variable levels of effort, while also enabling the amount of resistance provided by the exercise device to be regulated selectively without interruption of exercising. What is desired, then, is an exercise device which can be operated by pedal movement, hand movement, or both simultaneously, and which provides an amount of resistance to exercise which can be varied by the user without interruption of the exercise being performed. Additionally, such a device should include provision for displaying various information concerning the exercise being performed, such as the elapsed time, the amount of work which has been performed, the amount of resistance provided by the apparatus, and the speed at which the apparatus is being operated Additionally, it would be desirable to provide displays of information concerning the user's physiological performance, for example the heart rate.